I remember when I first heard the word blog and learned what a blog was. It was the early aughts, I was a very recent college graduate, and a friend from college was telling me about her ventures into this new medium for online writing that would be a great way for me to keep current on her inner musings. She explained that this sort of online, pseudo-public journal would allow aspiring writers such as herself make her thoughts and reflections available for others to read, and would provide opportunities to find their audiences and hone their voices.

This is me, literally heading into the unknown.

I was skeptical. Would people really want to read informal and unpolished internet journals? Why would people care about what strangers had to say? I was sure that blogs would be a passing internet fad, a failed experiment at cheap publishing. Needless to say, I was wrong. Not only have blogs proven their value and staying power, but late adopters such as myself now see them as a critical and vital means of communication. So now here we are in 2017, and I am launching “Process This!” - my first ever blog - as part of my new business and website.

The purpose of this blog is to shine some light on, and insert a little levity into, the decidedly unsexy topic of workplace operations and processes. Like so many other business-related terms, the mere words “operations” and “processes” have become weighted down by complex jargon and highly technical connotations. While application of rigorous scientific research and development of theories have certainly added tremendous value to the field of business and organizational management at the macro level, I’m here to make the case that many workplace problems can be addressed at the micro level using common sense solutions.

In this blog, I will provide concrete examples of how simple processes can solve common workplace problems. I will add new posts at least twice every month, and each post will be from one of the following categories:

Case Studies - Stories of problems I've solved in an actual workplace

Pop Ops - Diagnoses and discussions of workplace issue from TV and movies

Tips and Tools - Brief insight into common workplace problems and solutions

Sharing and Caring - Commentary on writings and resources I find useful and interesting

Words of Wisdom - Postings from special guest contributors

As I have with many other tech and social media innovations, I concede that I was short-sighted in my early skepticism of blogs. Although I come to blogging as a (very) late adopter, I am fully onboard and excited about this opportunity to share bits and pieces of information that I think can help many people become more efficient and effective in achieving their missions at work. I will go on record, however, and say that I will never understand the purpose of Snapchat!

I hope you will find this blog useful, and welcome questions and comments on existing entries, as well as suggestions for future blog posts. Please email me at alex@aiscollaborations.com or send me comment below or via the AIS Collaborations page on Linked In.